Grants to pay for plans for Point Mallard Park's future, improved kiddie area

Bayne Hughes, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·4 min read

Nov. 2—City leaders want to reinvigorate Point Mallard Park by remaking its Aquatic Center's kiddie area to attract more out-of-state families and creating a comprehensive plan for all of its features.

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Two grants will push those plans forward. Pending City Council acceptance, the park will receive $145,000 in grants from the Alabama Department of Tourism. Neither grant requires a city match.

Parks and Recreation Director Jason Lake said he met with state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, this summer and talked about the park's needs. Orr then asked Lee Sentell, director of Alabama Tourism, to help obtain the grants.

A $45,000 grant will go toward designing a revamped kiddie area. The city has been wanting to improve this area for several years. Now-retired Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Dunlap told the City Council during budget talks in 2018 that Point Mallard Aquatics Center "needs a new kiddie pool area to stay competitive with other water parks."

The Lazy River is Point Mallard's newest attraction, and it was added in 2013. Lake said water parks typically add new and fresh attractions about every five years, but Point Mallard has been on a roughly 10- to 12-year replacement schedule.

"We've done things like the Lazy River and speed slides in recent years, but those are for adults and older teenagers," Lake said.

Lake said he and his staff have some ideas, but they want to get a recommendation from a specialist in aquatic parks on an attraction that brings in young children.

"We want an attraction that, when kids think about Point Mallard, they get excited," Lake said. "And we want to have something that draws in people from north Alabama and just over the (state) borders in Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee."

Point Mallard Park Manager Stephanie McLain said the kiddie area is currently two separate areas, a Squirt Factory and a Duck Pond, between the wave pool and Olympic pool.

McLain said they would like the children's area to be bigger, and they've received a lot of requests for shaded options around the area.

The Aquatics Center added cabanas last year in portions of the venue that Lake and McLain said were popular.

Lake said they would like to add bigger cabanas for large groups in the picnic area, and McLain said the cabanas are a possibility for the kiddie area.

McLain said they've had repeated requests for a family restroom in the Aquatics Center.

"We hope to incorporate that need as well (in the kiddie area)," McLain said.

A separate $100,000 grant would pay for creation of a comprehensive plan for the 750-acre Point Mallard Park. While the park already includes the Aquatics Center, golf course, campground and bicycle/walking trail, Lake said there is room to grow. Spaces for new uses include the grassy area along Point Mallard Drive that has been used for pickup soccer and Hayes Field, the location traditionally used for shooting off fireworks.

"We could do something to (connect with) the river where more people could pull up in their boats and watch the fireworks," Lake said.

Lake pointed out that there still hasn't been a decision on the future of the Ice Complex. A problem with rusted pipes in the ice-making system led to the city closing the ice rink two years ago. Repairs were projected to cost as much as $1.2 million.

Lake proposed turning the building into a multi-purpose facility, but a group of residents objected and wanted the ice rink repaired.

A comprehensive plan also would examine T.C. Almon Recreation Center, which is more than 50 years old, and potential expansion of the popular campground.

"We didn't realize what we had with the (Alabama) Jubilee field until we started hosting the festival," Lake said. "Are there improvements that need to be made to it?"

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.